Spring dinner speech
Philip Tsai
President, Hong Kong Institute of CPAs
24 February 2011
Thank you, Winnie.
Distinguished guests, Past Presidents, fellow Council members, Committee members,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Evening.
On behalf of the Institute I'd like to welcome everyone to this evening’s Spring Dinner,
and a belated Gong Xi Fa Cai to you all.
I hope that everyone had a pleasant and relaxing Chinese New Year holidays and that
you are all ready for a hopping Year of the Rabbit.
Last year, the Year of the Tiger, was a year full of accomplishments and
achievements for the Institute. This year, we will keep up the momentum and
continue with an ambitious agenda.
This agenda consists of three primary audiences: our members, small- and
medium-size practitioners, and mainland students. During the coming year, I would
like to see the profession make progress in three areas: boosting member
engagement with the Institute, improving our understanding of the challenges faced
by small- and medium- sized practitioners, and increasing the availability of QP in the
Mainland.
It often surprises me when I meet members who are unaware of the many resources
available through the Institute. When I tell them what they have at their disposal, it is
their turn to be surprised. The Institute has state-of-the-art facilities at Wu Chung
House—including a fully stocked library ideal for research and study, conference
rooms with cutting edge technology perfect for seminars and workshops; a wide range
of continuing professional development courses to help members keep abreast of the
latest standards and skill-sets; and a slew of networking, sports, and recreational
activities—such as a dragon boat team, bridge club and dance classes, not to
mention our 500 strong team which participated in the 10k, Half Marathon and Full
Marathon at the Standard Chartered Bank Marathon last Sunday.
As 25% of our members are under the age of 35, we have started a 25:35 group
under the leadership of the youngest member of the Council, Gary Poon. We hope
the new generation of the profession can have their own events and develop together
as the future leaders of the profession and pillars of our society.
We need to serve our SMP members because they make up a significant portion of
the Institute's membership and play a huge role in Hong Kong's small- and
medium-size enterprises. As SMEs are the lifeblood of Hong Kong, it would be no
exaggeration to say that our SMP members are important to the commercial and
economic success of Hong Kong. Winnie and I attended the first meeting of the
1
SMP Leadership Panel last week and I plan on increasing the quantity and volume of
discussion with them and making sure that their voice is louder and clearer in the
accounting profession dialogue. Keeping this segment of our membership at the
forefront of business is an important priority for the Institute.
Our members in business are greatly important to the profession not only because
they make up a majority of the Institute’s membership, but because they are also the
business leaders of Hong Kong. Winnie and I had a recent meeting with two very
senior members in business and we have listened to their suggestion to provide a
platform for our members who are senior CFOs and even CEOs. We discussed how
the Institute can contribute resources in shaping our policy for this platform and
creating an arena in which our experienced members in business can serve as
mentors to our young, budding PAIBs.
QP is becoming more prominent in the Mainland, with China's burgeoning need for
accountants with knowledge of, and experience in, international standards. Our
geographical and linguistic proximity give us a reason to step in to support the
Mainland as it fulfills its goals to develop the profession, and I plan on building an
even stronger relationship with our mainland counterparts. They need world-class
accountants and we know how to train and develop them. This is a simple and
symbiotic relationship that has and should continue to be mutually beneficial and
long-lasting. Building on the success and reputation of the QP in the Mainland is
definitely at the top of our to-do list.
At the beginning of this new decade, I am encouraged and excited to say that we are
beyond where we thought we could be. Even though we are geographically a small
market, we are punching well above our weight and are widely recognized as one of
the leading professional accounting bodies in the world.
I would like to take this festive opportunity to thank our members both in practices and
businesses who have devoted their time and energy to the works of the committees
for their dedication to the Institute and their commitment to the profession.
Committee members are vital in the translation and implementation of the Council’s
vision. Without your support, the profession could not be as vibrant and as influential
as it is now. The Institute could not be in its place among all the outstanding
accounting bodies in the world if it were not for your contribution of time and expertise
over the years. So once again, I’d like to extend to you my deepest gratitude.
Finally, may the Year of the Rabbit bring you all Health and Happiness, and bring to
Hong Kong Prosperity and Fortune.
Before I let you get back to your drink and conversation, we are honored to have our
Permanent Secretary for the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, Ms. Au King
Chi, who has kindly agreed to say a few words for us. King Chi please…
2
Spring dinner speech
Winnie Cheung
Chief Executive, Hong Kong Institute of CPAs
24 February 2011
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Hong Kong Institute of
Certified Public Accountants spring dinner. I know today is an auspicious day, and there
are many events and functions taking place at the same time, especially spring dinners,
so thank you all for choosing to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with us.
May the year of the rabbit bring you leaping success and bounding good fortune.
恭祝大家兔年東成西就、如意吉祥、萬事勝意、身體健康！
We are delighted to have with us tonight
- Permanent Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury, Ms. Au King Chi,
- Under Secretary, Ms. Julia Leung and
- Deputy Secretaries, Mr. John Leung and Mr. Patrick Ho from the FSTB,
- the Chairman of Securities & Futures Commission, Mr. Eddy Fong
- Chief Executive Officer of Financial Reporting Council and a past president, Dr.
P.M. Kam,
And our many friends from the SAR government:
- Director of Audit, Mr. Benjamin Tang,
- Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Mr. Y.Y. Chu,
- Director of Accounting Services, Mrs. Lesley Wong,
- Official Receiver, Mr. Eammon O'Connell,
- Registrar of Companies, Ms. Ada Chung,
- Commissioner for Narcotics, Ms. Sally Wong.
A warm welcome to you all.
We also welcome Paul Chan, our Legislative Council representative and an Institute past
president, who is here with us tonight.
同時，我也代表香港會計師公會歡迎中央政府中聯辦路和平部長，陳紹彬副部長及其他代
表，還有外交部駐港特派員公署的陳海平副主任, 還有全國人大代表雷添良先生和全國政
協委員李家祥先生兩位前會長，感謝你們的光臨。
We also have our council members, past presidents, senior management team, many of
our 400 volunteer members from our boards and committees and panels, and important
stakeholders, including leaders in politics, business, academia and fellow professional
bodies. A warm welcome to you all.
1
We are able to keep the Institute at the forefront of the world's professional bodies
thanks to your support and the many and varied contributions of all of you. Thanks for
volunteering your time and efforts to our work. The value you bring to the Institute and
the commitment you show to the profession is invaluable.
As all of you here know, Hong Kong now leads the world in terms of capital raised from
IPOs and has done so for two years running. Our economy has recovered from the
financial crisis and our GDP exceeded the peak before the crisis – it grew by 6.8 percent
in 2010.
Against that background, the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs is urgently working to keep
the skills of our members in the premier leagues in order to keep up with the break-neck
growth of China's economy.
Our main mission is to produce top accountants with expertise in international finance –
and the language and communication skills – to lead and serve Hong Kong's capital and
financial markets, as the main fundraising centre for China. Our collaboration with the
MoF, the CICPA and CSRC on financial reporting and auditing standards and capital
market issues is very close indeed and we expect this to continue.
To help us hone our skills, we've re-vamped our qualification programme for our students,
we're doing more to take that programme to mainland students, and we're working on
gaining closer recognition with the MoF & Chinese Institute of CPAs so that our
members have more opportunities in the vast mainland market.
We have also just launched our first specialist qualification and designation in insolvency
and we will introduce additional ones to match Hong Kong's increasing market
sophistication.
As China gained a place as the world second largest economy, the Institute worked with
our counterparts on the mainland to converge Chinese accounting standards with Hong
Kong. This enormous undertaking is why H-share companies can now choose to use
just one set of books instead of two, according to a new stock exchange listing rule. We
expect this to be a challenge for our members, who may see greater competition and
reduced volume in audit work, but a good opportunity in the long run as more mainland
businesses raise funds in Hong Kong and increased demand for Hong Kong's
professional services.
As Hong Kong leads the world in convergence with IFRS, our ties with the international
accounting standard setters are closer than ever and we are now a core member of the
Asian Oceania Standards Setter Group. This group strengthens Asia's voice in
international standard setting circles so that as more Asian jurisdictions adopt
international financial reporting standards, concerns are addressed and met – something
that hasn't always happened.
With opportunities, there are also risks and challenges too. The recent inflationary
pressure and running property prices are concerns to everyone, especially our younger
members.
2
At the same time as in both recession and the recovery, our profession has been
stressed by long working hours, especially for younger members working in public
practice. This has had the unfortunate consequence of making the profession less
attractive to bright young people, right at the time we need more professionals in our
ranks. Pressure on audit fees and auditors' liabilities are also significant issue of
concern. We are working hard to develop measures to address these issues.
There are other challenges too. One of which is keeping our regulatory regime in line
with international benchmarks while at the same time ensuring our auditors are not
overregulated, and that our SME/SMPs are not over burdened as they are in some
jurisdictions. To make sure our regime is vigorous, we've established committees and
working groups to look into any reforms that might be necessary; we are willing to make
ways to change to keep our premier position as a listing destination.
I hope the brief overview I've just given you on the Institute's current agenda will help
you in your committee work.
In the near future, the Institute will be seeking your advice and collaboration as we ride
on our steep opportunities and mitigate our challenges and risks.
The Institute is thriving on all fronts and we’re going to show you a video now that
showcases the Institute's many activities and engagements of our members and the
volunteers in them. After the video, we’ll hear from our president, Philip Tsai — who will
talk about the initiatives and plans he has in mind for his presidency. And then, we’d like
to invite Permanent Secretary, Au King Chi, to say a few words to us.
Let us enjoy tonight and have fun together. What better way to start off a new year than
with food, drink, conversation, song and laughter in the company of friends and
colleagues? Happy New Year and thank you!
3